Love on the Battlefield
by 11Stardust11
Summary: Max is a recruit in the army in order to pay for her college. Fang is her boot camp training sergeant. When sparks fly will they follow the rules, no romance? Or possibly be kicked out of the army? AH FAX Mild Language. Not your typical fanfic love story.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. This is my second fan fic. I hope you like it. I might update a little slow, because I have another one that is moving pretty fast now. You should check it out! It's called: the Hardest thing to do, say I love you. It's obviously FAX! So pwease read it! You know you want to…. Mwahahahaha. Ok so I worked hard on this first chapter so please review! I WANT PRESENTS! Please! **

I looked at the airplane through the floor to ceiling windows in awe. It was finally here. I squeezed my tattered duffel bag's handle nervously. People bustled around busily. Some had many bags and others had none. I heard squeals of excitement and cries of pain and sorrow reverberating off the walls of the huge building. I wanted to join in with a squeal myself.

I looked back at my mom and found her eyes wet with tears. She clutched her Kleenex I had grabbed for her at the front door from one of the many boxes lining the walls gratefully with her left hand. Yes, there were at least fifty boxes. These people were smart. Her lip quivered at a sob escaped when she sucked in a breath. Her eyes were pleading, yet encouraging all at the same time.

I gave her a look of pity and set my bag down and held my arms out as I approached her. Her body and faded clothes dived into them gratefully. Her chin buried itself into my shoulder and she sobbed maniacally. I squeezed her and murmured sweet nothings into her ear for a few minutes before she sniffled and regained her control. She wiped her eyes quickly and gave me an encouraging smile.

Well, I couldn't help it. I beamed at her with the smile I had hidden since I saw that plane through the windows. She pulled away and handed me my dark green duffel bag. "You be safe Max," She whispered.

Ella, who had been standing off to the side quickly added on, "Or I will kick your- err- butt when you get back," She said sternly with a smile. I choked back a laugh and smiled at her. Her eyebrows un-knitted themselves and her eyes flooded with tears.

"Oh, Ella," I breathed sympathetically.

"Shut up!" she said with a small smile. I smirked and held out my arms. A sob escaped her lips as well as she darted into my arms with a leap. My legs backed up under her weight to catch myself and I smiled and gave her a spin before setting her down. Her cheeks were streaked with tears when I looked at her again.

"Don't die," She blurted quietly to where mother couldn't hear. I was startled. What should I say? I gave her a slight nod dumbly and she turned away to stand next to mom.

I picked my bag up from the floor _again _and looked at my mom. She made a shooing motion with her hands as Ella hugged her side. I turned away and approached the plane with quick steps excitedly. I was finally going into the army! I stopped myself from skipping and instead smiled at myself like a complete idiot.

People gave me funny looks and I scowled at them for ruining my mood. Lieutenants and Sergeants, more sergeants than lieutenants if I may add, instructed people where to go a little too harsh and future boot camp attendees like me hurried to please them. I followed suit hurriedly past one man screaming at people to put their bags on the baggage carts. I chucked my bag violently onto the cart and the pile of bags beneath it shook precariously.

"Hey! Watch it recruit!" He shouted at me.

I nodded innocently as another man walked past us. "Shut up Ari, quit scaring them." He spat annoyed. "That's my job," He added evilly and winked at me. I was disgusted. What kind of sergeant hit on the new recruits?

I could see strawberry blond hair peeking out from underneath his hat as he turned and started patrolling again. I could tell he was a higher rank by the way 'Ari' said nothing to him as he left. He gave me a menacing glare as I walked away. I followed the lines of people quietly and was climbing aboard before I knew it. Suddenly I heard someone blabbering.

"Hi, nice to meet you! Are you new here too? I am. I'm sooo excited. I hope I get a good group to train with. Don't you? I hope I get a really sweet girl to hang out with and talk to. My mom was sooo sad when I walked away to the plane. She bawled her eyes out. I mean, I bet I would to. Just think about watching your daughter leaving to protect the U.S. with her life! What if she never came back?" She trailed off and the poor girl she was talking too nodded slightly and backed away. But the girl just followed her.

I edged away slowly, praying I didn't run into her. I sat in a seat next to the window and situated myself to get comfortable. The seat was surprisingly comfortable for the way it looked. I had never been on an airplane; my family had been to poor for as long as I could remember.

We always had the most tattered and faded clothes in the crowd wherever we went. I was always alone in our trailer park neighborhood with no one to play with as a child because everyone else was on vacation over the summer. I even had to use the same notebook the next year if there were more than fifty pages left over in it.

That was why I was here actually. My mom couldn't afford college. So, I had no chance. But secretly, I had always wanted to be in the army anyways and this was just the perfect excuse to use on my mother. I had always boon good with my hands. I couldn't wait to shoot a gun or something. I closed my eyes and pictured me firing it. Exhilaration rushed through me at the thought of it.

The think seat shook slightly as someone sat down next to me. I looked up quickly to see who it was. I was surprised. It was a sergeant. His deep black hair shimmered in the sun and I could see his eyes even though he was facing straight ahead. They were deep onyx black and silver specks swirled in them in constant motion. Or maybe it was me. I could feel myself getting dizzy and I was beginning to fall…

I snapped out of it quickly and jerked away so I wouldn't seem like I was staring. He said nothing and continued to stare forward. God, how stupid could I get? Who knew what the consequence was to fall in love in the army? I had heard about it a lot. It definitely wasn't good. I acted like I didn't care about him and looked casually out the window.

His jaw set as he saw someone climb onboard. It was so slight, so miniscule that I doubted anyone else noticed but me. I looked up, curious. It was that guy, Ari. He was laughing with someone, flirting obviously. She was also a higher rank than me. Probably the same rank as Ari. She had flaming red hair and bright, sparkling green eyes.

"Ok," Ari said chuckling, "Bye Lissa," He said waving slightly and turning around to come our way.

The man I was sitting next to jerked his head to face the window suddenly and I jumped. I was still staring at him like an idiot. "I, uhhh," I stuttered stupidly. In the end, I looked out the window as well. I felt like people in those movies where they are both staring out the window and then the guy starts pointing and laughing. I waited for the man to point and prepared my laugh before reminding myself that it wouldn't happen.

Ari passed by us and I glanced up like I was innocent and wondering who it was. "Oh, look who it is," He taunted with a smirk. He said nothing more to me and looked at the sergeant sitting next to me. "Did you like the show up there? She _is _quite a cutie." He said with a deep chuckle.

The sergeant's jaw tightened barely again and I still felt like only I could see it. "Ignoring me huh? That's fine with me," He whispered quietly before moving on. The sergeant once again jerked to face forward and said nothing to me. It started to tick me off but I didn't want to seem rude to a sergeant so I looked out the window again and didn't say a word.

**Well that's it! I hope you liked it! PLEASE review. I would love you forever. I might send anyone who reviews a animated cookie! You know you want it. Oh, and if you are gonna get a cookie you can review by telling me what kind. Hehehe. That makes you review too! I will shut up now…**

**My wish list is 15 reviews! You know you want the cookie! Don't deny it! PLEASE! I am begging! You feel bad. Don't lie to yourself. Let me help you feel better about yourselves, REVIEW! **

**11Stardust11**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I got 10 reviews or so as of now so I am a little upset…. But thank you so much for reviewing! (For those of you who did) For people who didn't, I get emails for story alerts and things including reviews so I know if you set me on alert and didn't review. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! You should be ashamed. You really should. But, you know how to feel better? You know how to get back at me? REVIEW! *evil laugh* you can't win! So, haha. **

** To Maxridefanaddict, I will try to add more detail. Tell me if I have improved please! (I am not upset, it was constructive criticism in my eyes) **

Fang POV:

I came to attention quickly as the general walked by and saluted respectfully. His boots clicked against the cement floors. He held his hands behind his back naturally as he marched by with, yeah, I am saying this, swagger. My lips switched into a slight smile and he glanced at me in recognition. He was probably my favorite out of all of them. He screamed in your face like normal and laughed at you when you failed but unlike others, he was just… A badass. It was all I could think of when I thought about it. I definitely wasn't the only one either, I could see flickers of worship through other sergeant's eyes alongside me as he walked past them.

He came to stand in front of us, stopping his stroll. "Well, sergeants. We are short on drill sergeants. There was an accident, and some could not return," He didn't explain the accident, and no one asked. "So, who is going to volunteer," He said bluntly. He never beat around the bush.

No one answered. Silence echoed down the empty hallways as everyone pondered this. I could tell everyone was irritated. No one wanted to be a drill sergeant. Not compared to an actual sergeant. Minutes passed by and the general became impatient. I stifled a sigh, they were such babies. Image, it consumed people.

I would have stepped forward almost immediately, but I didn't want to. This was my year, it had finally come. I was finally going to go fight for America in Iraq. But no, here I was, about to step forward to please my role model and volunteer to scream at people. Something I never did. In fact, I rarely talked. It was sickening how people could let their 'image' consume them so quickly. Pitiful. It had gotten so bad that the people who had finally gotten to where they wanted to be had to give up everything. I was filled with disgust. It was amazing how shallow people had become these days.

I stepped forward confidently, "I will sir," I said with strength. The general nodded slightly, pleased, and waited for more. While his eyes surveyed the line, I couldn't help but wish I could step back. When I had waited for this day for years, it had turned around on me completely. I was the low of the low, drill sergeant. It was almost as bad as recruit. Even recruits were slightly better, they didn't have a choice in how low they were. They were just newbies.

I heard another set of boots move across the floor at the other end of the line," I will sir," Someone said. I kind of recognized him. He was pretty silent himself and kept to himself a lot of times.

The general nodded again, "One more," He prompted.

An exasperated sigh sounded from somewhere near me. I held back a curious glance behind me as the last person stood forward. "I will sir," He stated and I knew immediately who it was. Iggy.

"Watch it Sergeant James," The general spat with a slight tint of venom. Iggy didn't say anything more. I felt like slapping him. He was such an idiot sometimes. He had always tried to push his luck with anyone above him in the ranking. I still don't know why.

"Dismissed," The general commanded. Everyone dispersed without another word. I headed for the blacktop outside with Iggy since that was where the new recruits would be gathering. I was silent as we walked, wallowing in anger.

Iggy snorted obviously excited about it, I rolled my eyes. He rubbed his hands together mischievously like he hadn't been upset. Maybe we had roll reversal, because I was utterly enraged. "Time to make hell," he muttered evilly.

Max POV

My hair felt matted and tangled to the right side of my head as I clambered clumsily off the plane tiredly. My eyes drooped sleepily and I got a lot of dirty looks from drill sergeants. What? If I get the chance, I'm gonna take it you fools. On my part, it was pretty smart don't you think? I gave a brief, no teeth, smile to the man that handed me by bag tiredly. Yes, that was not like me at all, but I didn't want enemies before we even started training. _That _could be a nightmare. He said nothing and simply threw another bag at someone else. So _that _was the harsh thud that had hit my stomach I thought groggily. I decided not to press matters further and turned to quickly follow the crowd.

I thought absently about my weird, smiling, behavior as I followed the scarily organized lines of people. I was definitely acting a lot sweeter compared to what I usually did, which was smirking at glaring girls and flipping off staring guys. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to be a sergeant's pet or anything but I didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with anybody before boot camp even started. Although, I don't think I can ever make amends with that guy, Ari. _He_ had some issues now.

I set my bag down in the bed of a camo'd out truck and continued to follow the mass of people along the concrete pathways that lead me into a huge crowd. A drill sergeant seemed to be shouting names into a microphone harshly and I winced. The roar of conversation made everything deafening. I looked around and found small groups of people lining the edges of the mass of people. I could barely recognize groups; they looked like an unorganized mass as well. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at myself, _yes Max, scarily organized. _I willed myself to pay attention.

Everyone bustled around and shoved me roughly as they passed. I noticed I was suddenly tiny compared to most of them. I even received glares from some, well, until I glared back and they turned away quickly.

Sure enough as soon as I dug my way out of my thoughts I heard my name called. "Maximum Ride, B-23," He shouted harshly. Puzzled people looked around, shouldering others and making a chain reaction, and tittered about my name. Some looked at me expectantly as if I could explain to them. I frowned. It wasn't _that _weird.

"That's me," I said dumbly and raised my hand slightly. Silence.

I awkwardly turned away from the stares to find 'B-23' in one of the 'groups' skirting the hustle and bustle of people in the middle. I shouldered my way out of the crowd that had suddenly poured in behind me in seconds. I skirted the edge of the groups and tried to find a sign for 'B-23'. I was close to the end of the groups and was quickly losing hope when I found it, well, _him. _It was the sergeant I had sat next to on the plane. I stopped without noticing I had. I felt myself staring into his eyes again, god, I was such an idiot. I felt dizzy. He looked at me awkwardly and tried to look away but couldn't help but greet my stare.

I shook myself. God! What was I doing? I wasn't here to crush on someone, I was here to go to college, and I would. No one would take that from me. I narrowed my eyes and jutted my chin out confidently. He would _not _ruin this for me. No way in _hell_. This was mine.

My hands curled into fists as I glanced at him one more time. He was awkwardly holding up and two on one hand and a three on the other. _What an idiot_, I thought firmly. Other women passed by and smiled him, they thought it was cute. _Whatever. _I tried to convince myself. I was almost passed him when I started to wonder what two three meant.

Oh. I'm an idiot.

I turned back, embarrassed and strode over to his group. _Don't look at him. Don't look at him. _ I commanded myself silently. _Don't look at him. Don't- _my eyes darted to his face and his lips twitched. I glared, what a jerk. To my annoyance, he didn't look away, he just kind of, twitched, again. _Urghh!_ My mind screamed.

I buried myself into his group and swore to not look at him again. When the mass in the middle finally dispersed he turned to face the group lingering behind him. He flicked his fingers towards himself in a 'follow me' motion. I reluctantly followed, at the _end_ of the group of course.

We came up to a booth and, one by one, told the man behind the desk our names and were tossed a camo uniform. I was once again given odd stares at the mention of my name, and a special lip twitch, when the uniform was sent flying into my face. I caught it and stormed behind an empty curtain to change. I came out before most girls, mad and heartbroken.

Behind the curtain, there was nothing. Bare except for a large trash can. I changed into my uniform, thinking nothing about it. When I was done, I held my clothes noticing I had nothing to put them in. That was when I noticed the trash can. I felt myself frown and realized that it was filled with clothes. But this was my _favorite _shirt! I argued. I told myself to not think about it and threw my clothes into the bin before I could think about it.

I swung the curtain aside and joined the sergeant awkwardly, seeing I had been done first. What girls, I thought. I caught myself from shaking my head quickly and squeezed my eyes shut instead. I hoped no one noticed. Of course, the sergeant twitched again, staring straight ahead. My irritation rose even more. Thankfully, another girl came out just then and joined us, the awkwardness lessening greatly.

When everyone had changed, the sergeant turned to face us again. "I'm Sergeant Nick. Nice to meet you. Let's run," He said quickly and turned towards the flat, dirt plains and started in a jog.

Everyone looked at each other with a puzzled expression. I rolled my eyes, they were so stupid. But honestly, I was thinking the same thing. _Does he even speak in sentences?_

Before anyone could say anything a girl pointed to the plains, "We better hurry," She said quickly before following the sergeant. All the girls muttered things like, "oh," before starting to jog. I started in the back quietly while the others put in effort to catch up. Me? I just wanted some space in-between me and the sergeant.

Much to my dismay, the girls in front of me were as slow as they were stupid. I didn't get why they were even in the army anyway. Much to my dismay, I felt myself easily passing them and getting closer and closer to the drill sergeant. I tried to slow down but they seemed to be crawling. It was impossible to get back behind them. I gritted my teeth and ran forward at my regular pace.

I regretted it immediately; I was now running alongside the sergeant. He seemed startled at first before he eased up the speed and got in front of me again. I felt myself notching up the speed as well and became even with him again. He glanced at me with a smirk and sped up even more. I frowned in recognition. He was competing with me! I glared at his back and poured on the speed competitively without thinking about it. He was n_ot _going to walk all over me, no matter who he was. I was falling to his bait, but I didn't care.

**Well I really hope you liked it. I wanted it to be good so I took my time on it. PLEASE review. I didn't get my goal last time for 15 reviews so I expect you to review on this one! I will be upset. Like I said up there /\ I know when you set me on alert and don't review. I will get revenge! Maybe not update for a while? Mwahahaha! REVIEW! **

**11Stardust11**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well we are at chapter number 3! Yippee! I hope you like this one as well for the people that REVIEWED. Thank you. Except for the people who didn't, which I do have the names of; you are very upsetting to me. I will think of a way to get back at you! **

**Anyway, this is the first day they get into camp. Someone will make their appearance in here and someone will be saying goodbye to certain... What? Hehehehehe. I love being mysterious. :p**

**11Stardust11**

My chest heaved heavily as we crossed into the army grounds painfully. I sucked in another breath through my gasping mouth and my lungs cried out. I felt like I was heaving in air so fast I was going to hyperventilate. Sergeant Nick was gasping desperately alongside me and waved for me to stop with a hand carelessly as his chest heaved immensely.

I sat, well, crashed down onto the patchy grounds of grass and dirt gratefully. I felt relieved immediately. I sprawled my legs out in front of me and leaned back on my arms. Lieutenants and Sergeants passed by mostly uncaring as we heaved on the ground in pain. I looked over at my sergeant to see him looking at me. His eyes flickered to a patch of grass on the ground quickly, but too late. He had been looking at me with something gleaming in his eyes, pride maybe? No….. Dignity? Oh, it was impression. He was impressed with me.

Pride surged through my chest, but before I could smile, my lungs tightened. I grimaced as my throat closed painfully and looked back at where we had come from. I could no longer see the 'airport' where we had landed. But the terrain was perfectly flat. We must have run at least five miles. I choked jaggedly on a laugh as I saw a miniscule plume of dirt in the air where the rest of our group was currently at. They had at least another mile to go. I choked again in pride. The sun set over them lazily and the entire plain was bathed in beautiful orange sunset. It was actually really pretty.

I thought back to our finish suddenly wondering. Who won? I hadn't even paid attention; I was just so relieved to see the camp grounds under my feet. I wasn't sure exactly, I think it was a tie. Maybe the sergeant a little bit ahead of me because I had been distracted in how grateful I was to be done. He glanced at me and I saw a glint of victory in his black eyes. I wanted to glare but it would give me away.

"I-"gasp,"Won," I said in short breaths. It tired me instantly. The sergeant looked at me and shook his head down at his legs with a smirk. He looked up at me and a flash of amusement crossed his face.

I glared. That damn jerks. His chest vibrated silently and I panicked. Was he having a heart attack? What the hell? I jerked as if to come towards him when I realized I was a freaking idiot. Again. He was laughing, not having a heart attack. His chest rumbled more and he choked.

Damn it. He was getting under my skin, I couldn't help it. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't he be a normal guy, not some incredibly hot ser- err- out of my league bitch. I cursed to myself quietly while we waited for the group to catch up.

Finally, after about fifteen long, umm, _painful_ minutes, they arrived. Most of them were heaving worse than we were. Some even had tear streaks running down their faces that mixed in with dirt. I couldn't help it. I rolled my eyes dramatically and they all glared at me venomously. I smirked. I could tell I definitely would not have friends here.

We all looked at the sergeant expectantly, waiting for our next command. **(A.N. I couldn't help but point this out, every time I start to write 'sergeant' I punch in 'Fa' before I catch myself. Haha.) **He turned away from us, probably expecting us to follow, again. No surprise. Huffs filled the air as we passed everyone and most of them laughed or shouted "Recruits!" I felt embarrassed. Now _I _felt like a wimp, when in truth I wasn't even breathing hard anymore. I secretly wished at least o_ne _person would notice that.

"Nice group!" Someone shouted to our sergeant.

I glared at him as I passed by. He held his hands up," Whoa! Feisty!" He said cackling and turning to his friends. His strawberry blonde hair peeked out and I remembered him from the airport. I jerked forwards and faced the sergeant's back angrily, my hair slapping me in the face slightly. It was covered in sweat and felt slimy. I shuddered.

When we got to the girls bunks I braced myself, expecting girls running around crazy and pink everywhere. Instead, I found girls minding their own business and almost no conversation at all. I mean, yes, I do _not _like the girly shit. But I didn't want to not talk at all, maybe a few conversations here and there? Nope. Nada. Not happening. The walkway was tight and cramped with the never ending bunks. We filed in one by one and slowly made our arrival to our section. There were three empty bunks and all the girls in my groups got in couples and pounced on them before I had even made it to them.

They were all giggling like crazy and talking away on the green beds when I finally caught up. My chest spiked with irritation. Great. Now where do I go? Do I become their freaking monster under the bed? I fumed quietly as the girls tried not to look into my constant glare. I looked around for a possible solution but found nothing except a bed covered in neon pink belongings. Now that was what I had prepared for. I thought about what to do when I got an evil thought. He was the sergeant in charge right?

I turned and looked at the sergeant expectantly. He blanked and looked around like I had. He returned my gaze with a blank, no clue, expression. He wasn't very good at this. I shrugged my shoulders innocently as if to say _don't look at me, you're the sergeant_. I wanted to laugh at his absolute clueless stare. His hand twitched randomly and I noticed how close our hands were. My cheeks burned in heat and I looked away, adjusting my stance, away from his hands. I crossed my arms.

"Hi! Who are you? You must be new here! Did you just get here? Long run huh? Wow, you're really pretty. My mom is really pretty; she works for a modeling agency. Oh, my, gosh, we sometimes get to go to the fashion shows and the girls are _so _pretty. It's amazing. You should come sometime; I bet my mom would like you. You seem like the type of girl that's pretty outgoing. My mom would _love _you. She says I'm pretty outgoing myself. Not to brag or anything." A girl suddenly appeared beside me and I jumped at her ramble.

It sounded like the girl at the airport I had overheard. I hope it wasn't. But who else would talk like that? Shit. I tried to smile but it came out weak. My. Worst. Nightmare. My thoughts screamed. "By the way what's your name? Mine's Nudge, kind of weird huh? But, it's me. Well my real name is Monique but every-"I clamped my hand over her mouth blankly and stared at where her mouth had been in horror. The sergeant seemed startled himself.

I shook my head and removed my hand, turning back towards the sergeant. "So, where do I sleep?" I questioned. I would not let this get by me. It was low, but I was up for any kind of revenge at this point. Blank. Stare. And, of course, my absolute humor.

"Oh! You don't have anywhere to sleep? Well, you can sleep right there!" She said pointing to the bunk covered in pink. "I know my stuff is everywhere. Sorry about that. But I am going to sleep up on the top bunk so you can sleep there." She rambled excitedly and beamed at me.

"Yi- Yippee," I said miserably and threw my hands up pathetically.

She cleared all the stuff off of the bed and I collapsed onto it gratefully. I sighed in relief. Finally, off my feet. They ached from running. But something was missing, I was so _hot ._My hair felt sticky as it clung to the back of my neck. I frowned and peered up onto the girl, Nudge's bunk. "Do you have a ponytail?" I asked.

Her brow furrowed, "Umm, no. Sorry," She said quietly. I nodded and saw that her hair was cut in a 'cute' bob. Duh, I thought stupidly. I turned to the girl across the aisle and saw that she had her hair cut short too. In fact, _everyone's_ hair was short. How could I not notice that? Once again, my idiocy seems to shine through. I frowned.

"Umm, actually, you need to come with me about that." The sergeant said quietly. I jumped. I had forgotten he was there. He seemed awkward, as if he had been waiting to tell me. I nodded slowly and got up to follow him down the narrow aisle. Inside, I was panicking. What would they do?

He led me into a building straight across the dirt road that was much bigger than the bunks. I became nervous, was he taking me to someone? Was I in trouble? I followed him into a dark office and he flicked on the light hurriedly and grabbed some scissors. He flicked it off and led me outside again, this time around the back of the building.

He stopped in the back and turned to face me. "Turn around," He said bluntly. My eyes widened and I clutched my hair.

"No!" I exclaimed, alarmed.

He closed the distance between us quickly. "Look, you aren't supposed to have long hair here. I am supposed to turn you in. You get a buzz cut. You don't want that do you? So turn around or cut it yourself," He whispered quickly.

My breathing quickened and I could smell him. He smelt so good. I got dizzy again and my heart pounded. I could feel how tall he was, he loomed over me and I had to look up to meet his eyes. Those beautiful eyes… I told myself to focus. "No, I-I'll do it," I stuttered.

He handed me the scissors and I didn't bother asking for a mirror. I figured we weren't even supposed to have these anyway. I stuck my fingers in the holes and opened the blades. My hair... My _long_ hair. It was about to be gone. I love my hair, it finally looked good. It had taken so many unprofessional, poor haircuts from my mother to get it this way. My hair….

I grabbed a strand of it nervously. The blades loomed closer. Closer…. They were hovering around the hair now…. Just close the blades. My hand tensed and I squeezed my eyes shut. "I can't do it!" I screamed. "I can't do it."

I turned and threw the bladed at his feet. He didn't say anything for a moment before blurting," You want a buzz cut?" He sounded bewildered.

It took me back, why did he care? Why did the jerk care about my hair? He didn't care about me before! So why now? "What? No," I trailed off. "I just can't do it. It will look bad, and it took so long to get it this way, I had a bad haircut for years. I love my hair, it's weird, but I do. I don't want to cut it." I cringed at the proximity of me rambling like Nudge. "Just, make it look decent. Please," I said slowly, trying to be brave.

I turned around and waited. He didn't move. I waited, but he continued to plant his feet in the same spot. Why? I was about to turn around when the dirt under his feet stirred. I didn't move. He was so quiet, my ears strained to pick up a noise. "Don't jerk ok?" It was right in my ear and I leaped away from him instinctively.

"Like that," He muttered.

"Sorry, but you are just so damn quiet." I said dumbly. He smirked.

"It comes with being in the army," He said chuckling. I shook my head and cleared my thoughts.

I edged towards him. We were face to face way to soon. But, maybe that was good? No. Not good. I corrected myself. I turned around, my breath quivering. He didn't hesitate. He seized my hair suddenly and cut it straight across in one swipe. I sucked in a breath and my hair was yanked on.

"Ouch? Shit! That wasn't straight!"I snapped angrily. My hand crept up to the back of my hand. My hair came down to about my chin. It was cut straight across. Choppy. I looked at the sergeant and glared. What a jerk. I spun away from him with my hands curled into fists and stormed into the bunks.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, sorry about the author note, but this is a replacement for it. It is the real story. (duh, im an idiot. Why did I even type that) So I hope you like it. It is the first day of Max's training camp. I don't know for sure if I will split it into two chapter or not. I guess I will figure that out along the way. Hope you like it!**

**11Stardust11**

An incredibly loud, annoying tune exploded into my ears. My grateful, numbing sleep spun away instantly and my eyes flickered open into a blaring light nestled into a tube of some sort. I groaned groggily and my voice cracked slightly from disuse. I rolled over instinctively and my forehead smacked into a wall.

What the hell? Why was there a wall there? I rubbed my forehead absently in my anger and squeezed my eyes closed as if it would take the throbbing away. I heard a snort coming very close to my ear.

"Looks like we got a momma's girl," A man muttered. My temper spiked at the same time I jumped at the proximity of the voice and my ear. I spun with a flattened hand flying and my knuckles came down on a creamy cheek.

"Shit!" The cheek shouted and shot away from me, hitting its head on the bottom of a top bunk in the process. "Shit!" It shouted again. I squinted in the light, which was oddly flickering from many different tubes down the narrow building, at the owner of the cheek and saw that same boy with the strawberry hair. Oh, right, I was in training camp.

"Who the hell do you think you are, backhanding a sergeant?" He roared loudly. He didn't even rub the back of his head. I could tell he wanted to dart to a mirror to see if I had left a mark by his wild eyes that darted to and fro to the other tubes of light. Well, I did. He had a bright red mark across his cheek that looked like it would be tender for a few days. I fought back a smirk.

"Sorry sir," I mumbled reluctantly.

"Sir? That is Sergeant James to you!" He shouted furiously, "I suggest you get up a little more willingly next time, or you are cut!" He threatened and moved on down the bunks without another word. I sat up and looked around. The windows proved it was still dark outside, and I guessed the tubes of light were flashlights. Other drill sergeants held them too, but they wiggled them across your face momentarily before moving on. I noticed 'Sergeant James' stuck them in your eyes painfully. I rolled my eyes down at my thighs sleepily, and then rubbed the side of my hands against my eye sockets.

I noticed others clambering out of bed and tugging on their bulky, black boots in auto-pilot mode. I did the same and followed the stumbling girls quietly. I was grateful for the boots as I walked down the narrow isle. I seemed to stumble and bump into anything and everything in sight with my feet. I told myself to wake up harshly; the sergeants would kill me if I didn't soon. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes quickly and forced my eyelids to open up fully. They felt unnaturally heavy and the light bore into my eyes.

When we were all lined up outside and trying to stay awake on our feet, the drill sergeants came to stand in front of us dutifully. I noticed Sergeant Nick was one of them. He was closer to the end with his eyes drooping so slightly no one else even noticed. He looked bored. I could tell by his ever so slight drop in his shoulders and how his shoes barely pointed inwards as he stared at them secretly. The sergeant next to him snickered at me mischievously, as if to say, 'what a dumbass'. Strawberry blonde hair, I noted quietly.

I forced myself to pay attention to the sergeant pacing in front of us all. I stiffened my back and flew to attention like the others just before he passed me, looking me over like I was fresh meat.

"Welcome to boot camp little girls. I hope you like it here. If not, go home. All you have is blood, sweat, work, and dirt here. So don't expect to be running through pretty daisies. If you are, you're probably in a nuke town." He paused. No one so much as flinched. "Good. You will be split into your groups again, but this time two sergeants will be teaming up. They will make your lives hell. Don't expect mercy, it doesn't exist here. If you are injured, you still have to go through with the training. If you can't, pack your bags. Understand?" He paused at the end of the line and took his place with the other sergeants.

When we ask a question, I wanna hear a 'sir yes sir'!" Another one screamed. I was startled and wanted to tell him I didn't have a hearing aid but forced myself to join in with the recruits.

"Sir yes sir!" We all shouted in respect. I alone still sounded groggy, everyone else was almost completely awake.

"Now I want you to move!" He yelled. I felt like my ears were exploding from his voice.

"Sir yes sir!" We chimed.

"Louder!"

"Sir yes sir!" I shouted.

The sergeants took off to the right and headed down a dirt road at a dead run. I willed my stumbling feet to run, but they stumbled even more when I tried to quicken the pace. I fell behind quickly and swore under my breath. I needed to catch up as soon as possible now. I stomped my feet harshly against the dirt desperately and my nerves spiked up my legs from impact.

I slammed them into the dirt again and plumes of dust arose with little luck. My feet slowly woke up but by then I was very far behind. I rubbed my eyes mid jog and quickened my pace even more. I darted at a dead sprint after the group, praying I would catch up. I knew I was being stupid, but I didn't have a choice. If I kept sprinting, I would be tired and wouldn't be able to stay with the group when I did meet up with them. But what choice did I have?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

My legs sputtered to an awkward halt as I finally reached the back of the group. I tried not to trip as my legs stumbled forward in a constant motion from the last few miles. They had been listening to the sergeants for a couple minutes or so by now. I felt anger burn in my stomach at myself. Why couldn't I wake up? This was the damn army, not daycare. If I didn't improve, I wasn't ever getting into any college. My jaw set angrily as I tried to listen to the sergeants.

Sandwiches flew into the air and I caught one. I ripped open the plastic that surrounded them and bit in hungrily. I surprised myself. I had no idea I was hungry, but in fact, I was starving. I wanted another one. My sandwich was gone all too soon and I wished I had savored it. I was doing an awful lot of wishing. _Suck it up Max. Focus…._

The sergeants were splitting up now and I willed myself to pay attention at what was before me. The recruits in front of me separated as well. I saw a girl from my group yesterday and followed her quickly. She led me to the rest of my group and some others as well. They all nodded to her politely and barely gave me a second glance.

I became curious at why others were in my group, and then remembered we were splitting into two groups. I looked around for the sergeants; curious to see who we were grouped with, and found that damn strawberry again. What a great start to boot camp. I was officially going to die now. Not mentioning that my own sergeant wasn't so friendly either. Goodbye life, mom, sister, roomie, well, actually I won't miss her. She talks too much.

When the group I was in was fully formed and our sergeants stopped talking about what was planned for today, we were lead down another dirt road. This one was narrower, but frequently traveled, as the dirt was soft and loose under my boots. There were no signs as to where we were going but at this point all I knew is that I needed to up my game a whole lot more. They weren't cutting any slack, which I didn't need, and they really weren't going to go easy on my seeing I was behind, the opposite actually.

When the small dirt road opened up, I was taken aback by hundreds of people flying through the biggest, hardest obstacle course I had ever seen. It was also in the best shape from all the others in my memory. Most of the ones I remembered were from Ella and I running through them as kids, no matter how rundown they were. And believe me; they were definitely old, probably because we didn't really have the fortune of a good neighborhood, mostly just the old ones with cheap houses that rich people were afraid to walk through.

That skinny strawberry abruptly spun on his heel of front of us and screamed, "What are ya staring at? Get out there!"

"Sir yes sir!" I shouted, very much so reluctant, with all the others.

We ran out, god knows where we were going exactly, towards the obstacle course. When we neared the first couple of obstacles, the girls at the front of the group slowed and tried to decide which ones they were starting at. Other stayed behind and listened for a place to go like the others were in charge. I tried not to laugh at how stupid they looked when they finally decided.

We ran towards what looked like a rope ladder with missing rungs turned sideways. We climbed the steep, wooden stares quickly and the front runners dove onto it, clambering through clumsily as it rocked back and forth precariously. The followers, as I liked to call them, tried to keep up with the frontrunners with me in the middle their damn group.

They were all tripping over themselves, throwing others off to get through, trying to impress the sergeants. But all it did was make them rude and go off balance. I jumped onto the rope right after the other girl as she wobbled through as quickly as possible. She just wanted to fill the gap between her and the girl in front of her. I dug my knees into one of the skinny ropes and grabbed onto the one in front of me, jumping from each one in this position as quickly as possible. Before I knew it, I was along side the other girl in the middle where there was a gap about five ropes wide to the next rope.

Two more girls jumped on behind us and rocked the rope, making me cling to the last rope I had before the gap. I was inches away from tumbling forward into the gap and straight onto my back on the ground when my balance returned. The other girl next to me glared when she saw me, obviously thinking this was a competition or something. I barely noticed as I positioned my knees and threw myself, arms out to grab the rope across the gap.

Obviously, I was a complete idiot. The girl thought I was trying to outdo her, and jumped right after me. She shouldered my side harshly, and grabbed onto the same spot I was supposed to as I veered off to the left. I clumsily grabbed at the middle of the thin rope that held the rungs together and tried to do something, anything. Because the sergeants had missed the girl's attack, and would think I was trying something different than jumping when they turned around.

Sergeant Nick's foot turned to the side slightly, about to check on us. I tried to climb along it towards the next rung quickly, but every time I touched the rope it dipped down under my weight making me have to lift my body weight uphill each time. His other foot turned. I frantically tried to move faster, I had to make this; it would put a crucial damper on my scholarship chances. Not to mention, I had already been behind this morning when we ran.

His hips and head turned to follow his feet….. _Hurry Damn it! _I screamed at myself. I frantically swung my body forward, let go of the rope and caught it again with both hands before I fell. I did this over and over as my chances slipped farther and farther away. His eyes were zeroing in on me, but I was so close, I _had _ to make this. _One more leap…._

I threw myself harder and let go of the rope once more. I swung my hands hurriedly and reached for the rope. I caught a hold of it. _Yes._

My fingers slipped. No.

"Recruit! Get up there and do it again. Don't be doing anything stupid again or you're out," Sergeant Nick said with finality. As he said 'out' he jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"Sir yes sir," I mumbled. The girl who had shouldered me, and was now finishing up, smirked and quietly cackled. Great. I was now at the back of the followers group, looking like a complete idiot.

"Oh c'mon, that's pathetic!" shouted a nearby sergeant. I looked over at the same time my sergeant did and saw Sergeant Ari strolling over to Nick. "Already the weak link eh?" He shook his head and Sergeant Nick resumed looking forward, as if watching me but never meeting my eyes.

I wanted to beat the shit out of Ari, what's his face. I think I might nickname him. Something simple. The Biggest Shit-Head Known to Man. Yep, that's a good'en. BSH was a good abbreviation.

I bit my tongue to hold back a stream of cuss words. Hard. I drew blood but I barely felt it. Anger was overflowing into my veins and my blood roared past my ears blaringly.

I climbed the wooden ladder again and clambered onto the ropes without a word. I was _not _the weakest link.

**Kill me. I know, it took FOREVER. Sorry? I really just wanted to get this done right. It was her first day, so I knew it had to be really good. Please review. Was the weak link thing kinda weak? I knew going into the boot camp that things would be kinda boring after several days of it, so I wanted to add something else to make it more interesting. I got a unanimous review from someone named "Nameless". Whoever that was, thank you for telling me your thoughts. You said that the 'heartbroken' thing was kinda lame. Yes, it was. **

**I wanted to do the shirt thing because it kind of brings you back to the whole poor thing. I guess that didn't really come out the way I wanted it to. It was supposed to be one of her newer shirts that she really liked and she wore it because she wanted to look decent for her first day. She was upset because she had to throw it away because she doesn't really get a whole lot of new stuff in her life. I hope you understand now. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Yippee! I got awesome reviews! Thanks guys! By the way, the girl that shouldered Max was not Lissa. I prefer not to make Lissa a bad character because she wasnt really in the book. Lissa is another drill sergeant, for reasons I will not bring up. Mwahahahaha.**

**Haha. I am currently watching my dog try to bite the mouse on the screen. Have you ever seen your dog stalk your computer mouse? Funny stuff. **

**Onwards!**

**11Stardust11**

I grit my teeth angrily as the groups of girls filed into the narrow bunk building. I would fix this. I had to fix this. Sergeant Nick was quietly strolling off to wherever sergeants go. Probably that building he took me too yesterday to grab those Scissors. At the thought, I absently fingered the choppy strands on the nape of my neck before pushing the thought out of my mind.

I couldnt believe I was last. Last. It was sickening, not to mention utterly embarrassing. God. _Last.._

I threw myself onto my bed with a huff and a scowl. I was tired, for sure, but not exhausted. It made me furious. I should have been exhausted, but I wasnt. I was so stupid. I felt like everything was slipping away, on the first damn day. Damn it.

Oh, hey Max! Nice to see you again! Wasnt that a workout? Whew! What a day! I feel like I just sprouted abs in a day. Although I have worked out before for my senior prom to lose some weight, but I never got abs. But I sure did get a gorgeous dress. Wow! It was a stunner. You should have seen that ol Megans face I clamped my hand on Nudges mouth with finality and she blushed.

Aphie, She said sheepishly. I was guessing she met sorry. I smirked and let go of her mouth, rolling back onto the bunk again. She clambered up into hers and plopped down, sprawling out.

She sighed. I sure am pooped. Not literally of course you know, just in a figure of speech. She cut herself off just before I could say Nudge as if I was punishing a small child.

I huffed a loud sigh irritably. I knew what would happen next. It was terrifying to think about it. They would push me harder and harder in hopes of me quitting. Thats how it always went. They never actually told you to go home, they wanted to make you quit yourself. Why? To crush your pride in the process. But I would not quit. I was not that kind of person.

I rolled over, burying my face into the thin pillow. I wanted to scream. I had to fix this, and soon.

^/^/^/^

The trumpet sounded in the morning like yesterdays, loud and clear. Small groans were heard before being muffled from rolling over as the lights flickered on. My eyes flew open instantly, almost as if already having been awake, which, I had been. It had took a couple of nights to learn, but I finally trained myself to wake up a few minutes earlier than the trumpet. I slipped on my boots and headed down the narrow hallway to outside. The sergeants were already off, headed towards the training camp obstacles. I took off in a jog with the few girls who had managed to wake up so fast.

I had slowly began regaining my rightful position in the jog to the course and even in the line through the obstacles. But today would finally be the day I would get into the snobby frontrunners. As I ran my anticipation grew and I could feel myself running faster. The other girls quickly began to fall behind me from being groggy from lack of sleep, and I was soon in the front, running faster than any of them. I was not going to screw this up.

Plumes of dirt arose around our legs and feet from the ground around my small group of recruits as we jogged down the dirt path after out drill sergeants. By now, the rest of the girls were pouring out of the bunk building sleepily like staggering ants and following the girls in front of them off into yet another day of boot camp.

When everyone arrived at the cross section in the paths that veered off into different places the sergeants were standing in a neat line, waiting for us. We ate quickly, before splitting up into our smaller groups with our sergeants. I stood next to Sergeant Nick quietly, waiting to take off down a path. The last of the girls were splitting up into their groups. One wandered over to Ari's group and i noticed his smug posture.

He was standing in the classical sergeant position with his hands behind his back but his shoulders were held high and he had a smirk on his face. It was so obvious that I was surprised that I didnt notice it immediately. Sergeant Nick's arm tensed in front of me and I looked into his face to see... Anger. He was looking off into space as if avoiding someone's eyes. Avoiding _Ari's_ eyes. Ari's chest rumbled in laughter to slight for others to see.

Sergeant Nick's face changed. He looked like he hated every waking minute of his life. Like he couldn't wait to leave this place. Like he couldn't believe that he was a drill sergeant, as if he deserved to be something higher. It dawned on me that he probably did. By his body language he was radiating his story to me. I don't know how, but I understood that he wasn't supposed to be a drill sergeant. Maybe by the ashamed look on his face, like he couldn't believe he had to be apart of this group of people.

Then, it vanished. He was once again a silent person that was completely unemotional. As we took off down the path to the obstacle course I felt funny. It had really shocked me how well I had understood him so easily. I hadn't even met him before. I slowly started to care for him, which had never happened to me before. I tried hard to deny it, and shoved it as far away as possible. I had to focus, I desperately needed that scholarship. Nothing else was important.

When we reached the course, my group didn't even slow their pace this time. But just as always it filled me with a feeling of being overwhelmed. It blew my mind how the course was always different everytime we approached it. But I had a suspicion people came out at night when everyone had gone to bed to change the course. This suspicion came to me from spotting some random knobs and holes on the pieces of the course. Like a puzzle that could be made millions of ways. I also noticed that there were tiny empty holes for screws and nails that popped up in various places.

I shook my thoughts away and started to assess the obstacle course in front of me. There was a long straight away that was stopped by an unnaturally high hurdle with barb wire beneath it to prevent cheaters. Behind that there was a pit of mud with barb wire above it that you were supposed to crawl beneath. Then, a vertical wall with three ropes hanging down from it, the other side of the wall not meant to be seen.

I ran at the tall hurdle quickly with the few girls that were in the front with me. As i neared the hurdle, it became bigger and bigger and i picked up speed in hopes of jumping over it. But the closer I got to it, it became even _bigger _than it seemed to be from a distance. I slowed my pace a little, trying to find another way to get over it, before slowing to a complete stop.

The girls around me darted past, a few giving me odd looks. They ran full speed right into the beam on top, ramming their stomachs into it before falling to the floor and groaning, clutching at themselves in various places. I shifted my gaze to the hurdle with a scowl.

I shifted my glance from them to the beam with a scowl. So, obviously there was no jumping over it. Pounding footsteps behind me began to get louder and I knew I had to think fast. I examined the hurdle carefully. Then i saw it, one of those knobs i had seen in various places on the rest of the courses. It was positioned about halfway through the stilt on the left side. It was old and worn and had the appearance of a favorite puzzle piece with many uses and places.

I walked over to the left side of it and placed my hands ontop of the beam. I swung my leg up and rested my foot on the knob before pushing myself up and over with ease. As my feet touched the ground on the other side I smiled in bewilderment. It had been so incredibly _easy. _It was odd, how could something that looked so physically hard and not physical at all?

I laughed at the looks the other girls on the ground gave me. Their eyes grew big in shock. They obviously hadn't looked up to pay attention as to how I had done it. Except for maybe one of them. But as they struggled to get up and try again. The rest of the girls showed up by then and everyone started to mob the hurdle with no apparant strategy as to how to accomplish their task.

I didn't waste any of my time advantage. I spun around and took off, running towards the next obstacle with newly found ego.

_**Fang POV**_

__I grit my teeth painfully as Ari's laughter once again carried out over the dusty obstacle course. I wanted to punch him in the face. I refused to look over to where he was. I knew what he was doing. He was currently in the middle of a group of guys bragging about his new girlfriend. Probably telling them so many lies he wouldn't be able to keep up with them later.

Because last night he had crossed the line. He had kissed Lissa. Only because he knew that I had admired her. Before, he only flirted with her, but now he had taken it further. It was a low blow, yes, but even more effective than any other. I could turn him in easily, but I wouldn't, and he knew that. That meant that i would be turning Lissa in too, and I couldn't do that to her.

So now, he was bragging to everyone about getting the girl. And it killed me. The thing that was worse than anything he had done though, was the fact that Lissa actually liked him back. There was nothing I could do about that. So I ignored it, I pushed down all of my anger and feelings, like every guy did.

I was brought back to reality by a nudge on my arm. I looked over, to see Iggy looking at me. He cocked his head to the course in a pointing motion before saying, "Look Fang (my nickname, only to my friends of course), they just added the hurdle to the course. This should be good," He said mischeviously, making a goofy jesture by rubbing his hands together evilly. I nodded, adjusting my gaze to the course.

I noticed my group of recruits running towards the hurdle, which was the first obstacle to start the whole run. That girl was in front. I didn't remember her name, but then again, no one really had a name around here, just a rank. Except higher up ranks like Sergeant and General.

I didn't know what to think about her. She was amazingly good one day and lower than average the next. I remembered our run from the airplane landing zone to the actual camp. I was just running as fast as i usually did, with everyone else trailing behind me as usual. It had always been like that for me, I was naturally fast. But she showed up out of nowhere, right next to me. She was fast too. Actually, she would have passed me. But I'm also very competitive, and I couldn't let that happen. I had never been pushed so hard when I ran until that day.

But then she had screwed it up. She was last for several days last week in the obstacle course. It confused me. She had been _amazing _when she was running. Slowly, she was gaining a higher position in the group though. And by the way she was acting today, she was definitely on top of her game. I guess that today was her day.

She was with the front of the group with a little distance between the rest of the group between them. They were running head on towards the hurdle. As they neared the small group of leaders began to speed up, and she did too. I shook my head in disappointment. She would never figure it out. But as the rest of the girls continued gaining speed, she slowed. I smirked, which sent myself into shock. I was actually rooting for her.

She finally slowed to a stop and frowned at the hurdle in confusion. _Cmon..._ I could tell that realization had dawned on her. But i didn't know how I knew, she was too far away to watch her body language. But I knew that she had figured it out, I felt like I could understand her.

She started toward the left side of the hurdle and rested her hands on top of the beam before swinging her leg up to rest on a hidden knob and hoisting herself up and over the hurdle with ease. As her feet came to rest on the ground on the other side of the hurdle she was radiating with pride.

That was the thing about the cursed hurdle. Everything about being in the army seemed to be physical right? Well you could be superhuman, but if you weren't smart, you would be killed instantly on the battlefield. The hurdle was the one twist on the obstacle course that only the most clever people could solve. Yeah, that girl would reall be respected after that stunt. I would know, I was the only one in my year that could figure the hurdle out. And after that, I was seriously respected.

Which is exactly why Ari hated me, because I had stole his spotlight. He had been the one who always got the attention before me, he was the biggest and the most physical. But he was as dumb as a ding bat, and I was smart.

Iggy, next to me laughed in bewilderment. "She figured it out!" he cried. I nodded with a smirk as he looked at me. "Hot damn Fang. You just got a lot more respect as a Drill Sergeant," He said shaking my hand. "Can I be your entourage?" He said, beaming. I whacked him on the back of the head before rolling my eyes in annoyance.

**Whoopie Pie! Cue confetti! I finally got it done! So, I was going to be done with this yesterday but it was hard to convert the first half of this from my ancient laptop that i shared with my family to my OWN netbook that i just got. So, i was using a very weird google edit thingie online and it screwed up and i lost THREE HOURS OF WORK. I am currently not speakin to google now... **

**YOU MUST REVIEW! I HAVE SPENT TO MANY WASTED HOURS ON THIS... Please! I BEG!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok so, can't say much right now cause I am starting to write this the same night I uploaded the last chapter.**

**Moving on, **

**11Stardust11**

As the weeks passed, I continued to stay at my high rank in the group. And, much to the other girls dismay, I was also a new preference to the Drill Sergeants for leader rolls and things in the drills that we did. I wasn't exactly sure why i was like so much but I couldn't deny the fact that I kind of liked it. I felt more respected than the others, it felt good.

When the day was finally over, we filed into the bunk building, me silent, and the other girls chattering about something. I knew what it was, but wasn't the kind of person to chatter about everything I heard. My group had heard that we were taking another step tomorrow, doing something different. The girls around me chattered about the 'mystery path' which I guessed was the path that no one had gone down yet, except today.

A group had been lead down that path at the intersection that morning and they hadn't got back yet. I guess I had never noticed that there was always one path on the far right that no one had gone down yet. I think that Nudge was in that group, I made a mental note to make sure to ask her what had happened.

From what I have heard, my group was next and supposed to go tomorrow. But none of the Sergeants had made a big deal about the group that had gone there, so I decided that I wouldn't either.

I got up from my bunk and walked down to the end of the building and exited it. My feet made small, light noises on the soft, worn dirt as I crossed to the shower room. It was a small, square building split in two with a girl and boy entrance on either side that led to different showers. I entered the girls side of the building, grabbed a towel, and climbed into an empty shower. The lukewarm water only lasted for about five minutes. But even though it wasn't hot, it felt like heaven on my mud caked skin.

When I left fully dressed, I felt light and clean again. I went and grabbed some dinner at the cafeteria, which was their ever so popular spaghetti and no meatballs, before heading back to my bunk. When I swung the door open the chatter reached my ears like a wave. But it was different, louder, not like the normal chatter that always was around.

This chatter was frantic and louder. Few girls were swarmed by many, the group that swarmed them was firing questions left and right. I walked down the crowded aisle trying to find my way to my bunk. When I finally reached it, Nudge was sitting on the one on top with the dramatics at full blast.

"Oh m-God! It was just crazy chaos, I couldn't think! And the sergeants were screaming at us like crazy! They were screaming exercises and workouts for us to do all in the middle of it. Then, we were told to move, and stop, and move again! Like they couldn't make up their minds! I personally really did not understand what was going on. I almost was left several times still doing the warm up. Everything was just, just, Oh!" She buried her face in her hands and the girls that swarmed her were shocked out of their amazement from her mouth and began comforting her.

"Nudge, what was it?" i asked, trying to ask the most simple question possible.

She looked up looking for who had asked this. When she met my gaze she replied, "it was the 'War Zone' a demo to show us what being under attack is like. It was insane! I couldn't keep up with everything that was thrown at me. I wasn't even the leader, and I couldn't keep up. Poor Lyndsie! She had no idea what she was doing. Oh! But you know what was worse? We saw the Gas Room! It looked even worse in person! It was awful, like death itself you know? It was even worse to know that we are going to it tomorrow! Oh! If I die, Brittany, you can keep my coach purse. And Logan, my-" I tuned out, not really caring about her verbal will.

The Gas Room? I had never heard of that before. But, I never really had Internet, or many friends, so I guess that may be a reason why. But the name of it sent a shiver through me. It didn't sound good. At all.

_**Ari POV **_

I walked into the Drill Sergeant's sleeping quarters angrily. How the hell did Fang get so lucky? He not only stole my spotlight as a recruit, but now his group had someone that had figured out that damn hurdle too? And why did that hurdle make such a big difference in this camp? It was a freaking knob you used to lift yourself over it. Simple. I ignored the fact that even I hadn't been able to figure it out.

I mean, _I _got Lissa. I stole his girl. Who is actually pretty annoying. But he still looks good. I honestly don't know how he does it. It was infuriating. He had slipped out of my grasp again. I needed to find a way to get a hold of him again, to make him look bad. But I didn't know how. I had to think fast, he was gaining to much respect to quickly. If i didn't hurry, he would be too far away to reach again, like he had been when he had been promoted to a higher ranking than me. I needed some leverage, now.

**So pretty short, but I needed a little link to the next chapter and I uploaded two chapters on the same day! Welcome! Next chapter is probably going to be a pretty big one. Tell me if I am getting into the story too fast. I don't think I am, my plan for this is pretty big, but I have never written a story with some crazy number of chapters. **

**Reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7

**So, this chapter is pretty big. Max is going into the demo war zone. I do know that this does really happen in training. I have worked hard on perfecting this with every true detail possible, and I have done a lot of research. Most likely, if I am putting it in here, its probably true. The hurdle is not actually something I have heard of, but I wanted Max to be respected. could you tell I made it up?**

**Thanks to all my reviewers!**

**11Stardust11**

My eyelids flickered open minutes before the trumpet sounded. I shifted my position lazily, and prepared myself for another day. The other girls around me were completely lost in their sleep, unaware of me. I focused on waking myself up and pushed down my grogginess.

When the trumpet sounded in its melodic tune I rose from my bunk quickly, getting dressed and slipping into my boots. I exited the building before most of the others and started at my jog. Sergeants that filed around me acknowledged me with respect, which was very rare for them to do so with others. I figured that it was just another perk of me completing the all mighty hurdle.

By the time I had gotten a good ways down the path, the rest of the girls were piling out of the building and falling into our annual jog to the cross section, where we would be separated and sent off down different paths. My stomach lurched suddenly, I frowned, resisting the urge to look at it. I thought I had control of my body? I was not nervous, so why did that happen?

Then, I remembered. Panic washed over me and my breathing quickened. The 'mystery path'. I was going down there today. My stomach lurched again and my I could hear my blood rushing in my ears. My boot dug into the ground mid stride, and I almost tripped. I told myself to calm down. Why was I panicking? I just needed to breath. It wasn't a big deal. None of the Sergeant's made it look scary.

I attempted to take a deep breath. It was difficult to do, seeing I had had a pretty good pant going. Not to mention my sudden quickening of breath in my panic. I squeezed my eyes tightly closed before opening them, trying to calm myself, to make sure I didn't run into a tree or anything.

We arrived at the cross section, skidding to a stop. My breathing was unnaturally faster than usual. I found Sergeant Nick quickly, regaining myself before looking at him to see if there was any difference in his posture. I couldn't tell any nervousness from him, then again, he wasn't exactly the most emotional person. So I looked at the rest of the sergeants, but they gave me nothing to work with. I began to get a little frustrated.

We finished up and everyone went their separate ways in dead silence. I liked that. How they were always on top of each other, knowing exactly what the other was planning or thinking. I hoped I could do that someday.

Tension exploded in the air as my group headed down _that _path. I could hear the breath of the girls around me quicken in panic. I knew that I was also radiating panic as well. Suddenly, I heard odd sounds of, _exploding. _I knew it was coming from up ahead. The other girls heard it too, glancing around at each other in question. When the dry, dusty trees lessened around us, then finally cleared, my entire group fell into amazement.

It was a small valley filled with dirt, in the air and all over the ground. When we stepped out of the trees, the dirt was thick and soft, like it had been churned up daily. Other sergeants showed up immediately from behind. They seemed to already know how each of us performed and what our strengths were as they looked over us.

He pointed to me, "You! You're the leader! You don't ever leave anyone behind and make sure your group is safe!" He commanded. The girls around me jumped in surprise, having not noticed they were even there. But me, I was in panic overdrive. Holy. Freaking. Shit.

"Get on the ground! NOW! Move! Move! Why are you standing there like a bunch of girls?"

One bellowed. I jumped to the ground immediately, not even thinking about what lay before me, and began crawling before a lot of the other girls who were frozen from surprise.

When all the other girls fell into a crawl he started again, "Now mountain climbers! Get on it!" He commanded.

I stood up, putting my hands in the air and squatting low, before putting my hands in the dirt and thrusting my feet out behind me and snapping them back in and jumping back up before repeating it all over again. **(Actual Drill) **

After a several mountain climbers, I was just about to start into the next one when he screamed for us to move again. Now we were really starting to get into the middle of the war zone. We were crawling very steadily, when a loud explosion came up directly to the right of us.

Shrieks came from several of the people in my group as it exploded. Tools and supplies flew into the air. I jumped, completely scared out of my right mind. "What the hell are you doing recruit? Get your damn group to safety!" He yelled.

I realized he was talking to me. I began looking around hurriedly and spotted a wall of sand sacks. A plan formed into my head. "To your left! Crawl with your head ducked low!" I yelled over the chaos. I started towards the shelter in a quick army crawl. The girls around me were frazzled and looked relieved to have someone telling them what to do instead of having to figure it out themselves.

Just before we got there the sergeant screamed, "Sit ups!" we began doing them, most of us starting to get used to the random commands that are meant to confuse us and cause stress. when we were told to move again, I formed a strategy to always be heading towards another shelter. This a lot of times left a lot of space out in the open but I didn't really have any other choice.

I can't really remember most of the things that went on, except for some of the things they pulled on us. Like how there were _a lot _of explosions and things raining down on us. I discovered that the 'supplies' were actually fake and built of light material so as not to knock someone out or something.

One time they even threw grenades at as. Most of us got up and ran for our lives. I did the first time, I even pulled a everyone fend for themselves, completely ditching the others. But after I discovered they were fake (duh!) I was able to try and throw them back. I know, i'm the leader and all and am supposed to 'heroically smother the explosion with my body' but hey, I'm to young to die.

When we were done, we were all completely covered in dirt and my hair felt like a mud pie. All I could think about was how great a shower would feel. I was completely exhausted. my body felt like a wrung out rag that had been robbed of all its energy. my knees wanted to buckle when we jogged back.

But overall, I could get used to this. Call me an adrenaline junkie, but I liked it.

**That's a wrap! Just kidding, got a lot to do huh? Yep. So, finally got the war zone up. I feel like it isn't my best, but I hope you guys liked it. Next chapter will probably be pretty big cause I need to write a cliffie to keep you sucked in. So, Nudge has gone to the gas room today. I will probably start writing from there when she talks about it and then Max gets to go. Yay! **

**Reviews! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Gas Room! Dun Dun duuuuuuuun! Mwahaha! Good luck to you all. :)**

**11Stardust11**

Max POV

I stumbled into the bunk room sleepily after my long day. My hair was wet and stuck to the back of my shirt from my shower. I personally loved showers, they were like a sanctuary I went to at the end of a long and stressful day that washed every annoyance and stress from my body and swirled it down the drain, where it would never be seen again. But now, I practically worshipped them. Even though they were only for a limited amount of time here, they were still like magic after a long day. The days here could get pretty painful, so even if they were short, it was nice to have something familiar in such a foreign place.

About halfway to my bed, I remembered about Nudge and her trip to the Gas Room. I had to admit, I was very curious, but her dramatics were almost painful to listen to and I tried to avoid them at all cost. I knew that after an event like this, she would crank them up higher than ever before. But all of these thoughts were forgotten when I saw her. Of course, she was surrounded by sympathetic girls that were constantly letting out things like 'awwww' and 'I feel so bad for you' in high pitched voices that drove me crazy. But when she looked up and her eyes met mine, I knew it was bad.

It wasn't that I was great at reading people, but that she just looked _really _bad. She looked like she had been run over by hell itself. Her cheeks had tear tracks running down them and her nose looked like it had completely emptied its entire contents all over her face and shirt. The flesh around her eyes was red and puffy. But her eyes, well, they were so bad it was scary. They were completely blood shot red. I had never seen red eyes that bad.

"...-en I ran out and puked. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it out of there!" She squealed. I wasn't able to catch the beginning of her sentence. She dabbed at her eyes daintily like she was trying not to cry.

"Oh! Max! You won't believe what they did to us! They made us walk into that room with-" She started.

"That's cool Nudge, but I would rather not hear about it right now. Thanks." I cut her off with a tight smile and made an excuse that I was going to eat dinner at the cafeteria.

I knew that I shouldn't be nervous about it, but I couldn't stop the churning of my stomach at the thought of such a thing. I walked back out of the bunks calmly, so as not to put on a show in front of the sergeants and generals that were milling around. This is what they wanted to see, panic and worry in some one's eyes. Make them quit, resign, and go home thinking they were dumb to ever think they could handle being in the army. But I deserved to be here, I could handle it. I _really_ needed that scholarship.

I had already eaten dinner, so I wandered around aimlessly for a while, thinking. Which probably wasn't the best idea, because I only had one thing to think about.

**Ari POV**

I walked around the the camp acting like a had something important to do. Like I was so immersed in my job that I didn't want to be talked to in the middle of it. But really, I didn't have a purpose at all.

I was actually just bored. There was no entertainment around here, unless you liked programming army equipment in your free time or reading books about army heroes or instruction manuals on how some gun worked. Which, I didn't like any of those things, reading was a waste of time and programming equipment on free time was for geeks.

I partially hoped I would run into Lissa. Not that I liked her, she had almost non-existent boobs. I have always wondered why Fang liked her so much, she wasn't very hot. But there were no other girls around here that fell for 'bad boys' like me, the rest stuck to their jobs for fear of losing them.

I was surprised that Lissa even fell for me. But, I would do anything to piss Fang off. Maybe we could make out, I hadn't had a girl on me in forever. A man can only go so long without a serious make out session and feeling up a girl.

One of the geeks that spent his free time programming equipment was passing me as I thought about this. "Oh hey, your helping with the gas pressures and dials for the recruits tomorrow. Group 2 is going through," He said hurriedly, trying to get away from me probably. I could tell he thought I was obnoxious and stupid, and a waste of time.

I would usually have had a snide remark to reply to him with because of his attitude. But my brain had suddenly kicked into overdrive as an idea came to me. I stopped mid-stride in thought as my entire plan was created in seconds. I knew how to get some leverage on Fang. The other sergeants and generals wouldn't think he was so great if his lucky little 'hurdle' girl didn't make it out of the Gas Room like she was supposed to.

**Max POV**

Jogging down the path in the morning, a few minutes after the trumpet sounded, I, surprisingly, wasn't thinking about the Gas Room and my trip there today. In fact, I wasn't even that nervous about it. I was thinking about that damn trumpet. Maybe it was because my brain was still sleepy and trying to wake itself up, I don't know. But all I could think about was how I used to think that melodic tune that belted out of that horn was pretty and catchy. How I kind of wished that I could play an instrument like that.

But now, I hated that stupid horn. Every morning, I wanted to punch the guy who played the damn thing everyday. We went through our regular routine of stopping and separating into our groups with our sergeants and taking off down different paths. This time, when I we went down the war zone path, another group was with us, and I guessed that they would be going to the war zone area today.

The other group seemed almost as nervous as I was yesterday, but rumors and stories getting around had probably calmed them down a little by now. It was odd to think that the last group to come down here would probably know exactly what they were about to do and what would happen. Maybe it was the army, maybe it was just girls, but stories around here were different. They were different types of stories and spread differently too.

Like, at a normal neighborhood the mothers would quietly gossip in their yards while taking a break of pulling weeds or something. Children would over hear them occasionally and try to figure out what they meant. But here, the sergeants were the mothers or fathers, but they acted like there was no secrecy in anything. They said it out loud for everyone to hear, and before you knew it, everyone knew and there was nothing to spread.

I liked that atmosphere in the army, nothing was secret and nothing was for only exclusive ears to hear. If it wasn't something top secret that only generals were allowed to talk about in certain meetings, then everyone could know. So there wasn't a whole lot of gossiping behind other people's backs or giggling when another girl walked in the room, like you knew something about them and they didn't know. There was nothing to hide, and no one to talk about, because everyone already knew.

When the trees cleared and we were met by that soft, churned up dirt again, the other group were taken by surprise by the generals behind them and told to get on the ground, just like we had been told yesterday. I looked up at the war zone, remembering yesterday for a moment before I realized that it looked different. I knew that they changed the obstacle courses over night but it looked like they changed the this field too. How did they change everything so fast?

My group was heading away to the right, following Sergeant Nick. I blinked, telling myself to focus, and walked away from the war zone with my stomach fluttering with butterflies. I was headed toward the Gas Room, and I couldn't change my mind now. Actually, I couldn't have changed it even if I wanted to, there was no way I was resigning from the army. I could do this. I would do this.

**So, I know my chapters are short but, I didn't want to keep going, I thought it would have been to long, like a run on chapter. But I promise, I will be writing the next chapter very soon, if I don't I will lose my train of thought. I'm probably gonna start it right now...**

**Thanks to reviewer 'helping-our-future-writers' And FAX is coming VERY soon. What would a evil Ari that screws everything up do without a Fang to come to the rescue? And soon is maybe... next chapter? Chapter after that? Hmm...**


	9. Chapter 9

**I have been waiting soo long to be close to finally calling Sergeant Nick, Fang. Woot! You don't know how many times I have meant to type 'Sergeant Nick' and keep starting to type 'Fang' haha!**

**11Stardust11**

**Max POV**

OK, I am so not the girly girl to say 'Oh m-god!' but that building looked like hell itself. It was a metal building covered in rust and dirt and weeds were sprouted up around the edges of it. There was a tent type looking thing in the front that connected to the front entrance. The tent looked almost like an entry hallway that led to the main house.

We jogged up to the small tent. Sergeant Nick stopped us and went to talk to the group of officers that stood at the front of the tent.

They talked very briefly and one of the officers turned around to us and screamed, "Attennnn-tion!"

Instantly, we sprang into a line and stood at attention with our hand barely touching our foreheads and tilted downwards. I barely registered the fact that Sergeant Nick stepped away from the rest of the officers and started to make his way around the side of the building. He nodded in approval. He started up a speech that consisted with a lot of 'sir yes, sir!' from my group. It was basically over how this was a drill to teach us the importance of our gas masks on the war field.

They explained what we were to do very quickly. It was all in a rush, and I struggled to keep up with them. I hoped they didn't expect us to know exactly what to do and they would be going through the process with us. Another officer was in the background pulling on a worn, black mask. I guessed that that was what we would be using.

Sure enough, the officers threw a mask to each of us. I began to examine it, like most of the other girls had begun to do. It was all black except two huge, clear circles meant for us to see through that took up half of the mask. They looked like bug eyes. We put them on and lined up in a line, the first four in the line told to stand inside the tent. It was obvious that all of us were nervous. I started to wish that I was in one of those groups close to the end, so I would know what I was going to be doing. This was going to be awful, I already knew it. It was like they were going to teach us lesson we had never even heard of the hard way.

**Ari POV**

I could see the girls of Fang's group lined up outside the Gas Tank as I pulled up in the open roofed jeep. I was in the passenger seat with the geek that had informed me of this job last night driving. I swung open the door and got out, along with the other two men in the backseat. I exchanged a knowing glance with them and one smirked. We were all on the same thought process, bored and ready to get this job over with.

As we headed to the back of the building, I made sure to find that girl that all the generals had their eyes on, watching over her, expecting more of her. I counted how far back she was and added the four that I knew were standing inside the tent. I made a note to remember that she was the eleventh person to walk through. I had to time this right.

We reached the small back door at the rear of the building. It was a small room about the size of a large closet. It was a skinny rectangle with half of the room taken up with a control panel of switches, knobs, and dials. The rest of the room provided a small amount of standing room. There were three chairs and I claimed one of them immediately. The other guys did to, leaving the nerd to stand.

The room was silent, no one moved. I sighed in exasperation, "Well?" I said to the geek. "You know how to work this shit right?"

He glared at me, as if to say 'oh, so you expect me to do the work, and yet you get the chair?'. He paused for a second before muttering a, "Yeah, sure." He flicked a switch and turned one of the many keys and the gadgets in front of me begin to hum.

I guessed he had done this before, because his fingers moved quickly with confidence. The other guys just looked around and eyed the controls like they wanted to mess with them. I watched the nerd, who I just realized I didn't even know the name of, as he turned everything on. At the end, he crouched down beneath the table and pulled on a wheel connected to something on the other side of the wall, which meant it was in the Gas Tank.

He yanked forward on the wheel and it jutted forward. He turned it slowly, eying a gauge on the controls as the needle slowly rose. When it reached a certain number, he shoved the wheel back where it rested originally and it clicked, like a lock. I realized that that was what controlled the gas amount in the Gas Tank. Perfect.

He stood, dusting his hands off and said with satisfaction, "Well, that's it. All we have to do now is wait until the recruits are done and then come back and turn it off. I can stay and watch the controls fro a few minutes to make sure they don't change as the first few recruits go through. You guys can go talk with the other officers or whatever."

The other two guys nodded and stood up, heading for the door. The nerd took one of their seats and settled in. I stayed seated. I sighed, like I decided that I was going to be nice and do something for him. "I'm gonna watch the controls." I said, as a favor, but with finality in my voice that told him I wasn't going to change my mind.

He frowned, obviously not agreeing with me. He opened his mouth to speak."Dude, I'm trying to be do somethin' for you." I said, cutting him off.

He shook his head and sighed, "Whatever," He muttered before getting up and leaving the room.

I waited until I was sure he was gone before flicking on a camera screen I saw in the corner of the room. I sat back in the chair on the other side of the room and watched the screen. Finally, I counted ten girls coming and going through the Gas Room. I got out of the chair and crouched down on the floor.

My hands closed over the wheel, which was cool. I yanked it forward and watched the needle on the control panel rise as I turned it. I stood back up and smiled. That ought to do it. I stood up with an evil smile spread across my face. She couldn't perform as well if it wasn't the same difficulty level as the others.

When she didn't do as well, they will probably pause the line, and I can come back and fix the gas amount. It was easy. I turned around and stepped out of the door, shutting it behind me. Fang wouldn't be so great after this.

As I walked away I was positive that my plan would work. But I what I didn't know what that I forgot to lock the wheel back into place. And as I walked away, the wheel began to spin. The needle on the gauge began to rise higher and higher. But no one was there to stop it.

**Max POV**

I was trying desperately to keep my breathing calm. There was only one girl in front of me now. I had been trying to smother my doubts and fear all yesterday and today, but now with it so close, I couldn't hide them as well anymore. I had to seem confident, I _had _to. I could not seem weak in front of these officers.

Several new sounds arose in the distance. Footsteps, a lot of them. A voice came up next to me, on the other side of the thin tent canvas. There were probably more than one, and one of them greeted the other officers standing around us. I figured they were just more officers.

Then there was the sound of feet scraping through the grass with uneven steps, that sound was farther away. Sharp intakes of breath made me guess that they were crying. When that sounds grew nearer, it was evident it was a recruit that had just resigned after stepping out of the gas room. That was three so far. Which definitely didn't make me feel any more confident. The girl in front of me was taken away then, stepping inside the Gas Room, and I was first in line.

I don't know why, but I felt so alone in that moment, like I didn't know anyone around me. Which, actually, I didn't. I felt a need for a familiar face, for comfort and security. I was scared and nervous, and alone. I regretted not talking to any of the other girls in my group. Maybe if I had I wouldn't feel so alone right now.

I wished that I knew where Sergeant Nick was. I didn't really know him, but at least he was someone I was used to being around. It was a quiet, non personal relationship that I had no idea I was so dependent on.

Memories of us racing across that flat, barren field and back behind the officer's offices when he cut my hair flooded my mind. I was hiding something from myself. I was trying to hide that fact that I felt a connection to him. It wasn't a quiet, non personal relationship. It was a relationship with feelings between two people who were not willing to feel them.

The officer appeared in front of me then, taking form in front of the murky gas in the room behind him. He reached over and flicked on the switch on the device threaded onto my belt. The cord that ran from the device to my mask was flooded with fresh air. I pulled the mask off of my forehead and pulled it over my face. I began to breath in the fresh air circulating in the mask.

The sergeant beckoned me forward. With a deep breath, that was actually kind of pointless, I stepped into the dark, murky gas.

The atmosphere was mysterious. I could hear and see the gas circulating around in the room, and I noticed it was a dark green color. I walked forward, towards the middle of the room. When I was a few steps away from it, I saw the officer standing in there waiting for me. I stopped a few paces away from him and stood there, waiting for instructions.

He spread his arms wide in a gesture to look around the room. I was thankful that I was allowed to, because I was terribly curious. I took in everything around me quietly as the officer stood there with a bored expression. When I was done, I turned back to face him and he nodded.

He then pointed to my mask and bent his finger towards himself. _Give it to me._ I froze. I wanted immediately to tell him no or bolt away from him, but I knew that I would be screwing up all my chances of becoming somebody around here. I felt my hands start to sweat as I took hold of the front of the mask and pulled it off my face.

But just before I did so, I took huge gulps of fresh air in hopes to avoid breathing in the gas. The officer took the mask from me and tossed it behind him. I waited for more instructions but he just looked at me. Then I realized, I was going to have to stand here until he noticed signs of me breathing in the gas.

Panic welled up in my stomach like acid. Fear mixed itself into the panic in my stomach and I felt my stomach lurch. My throat tightened as the need for air became greater. I tried desperately to hold my breath for as long as I could, but eventually instinct took over and I breathed in.

The gas, surprisingly, didn't smell odd or feel weird when I breathed it in. I had a small thought that maybe it was just made to be creepy but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. My cheeks felt strangely wet all of a sudden. I felt my fingers graze them, and realized I was crying. I wasn't crying in fear, but the gas was forcing me to.

My top lip felt wet too. I touched my nose. I was snotting all over myself. It was like my nose was completely emptying its contents all down my face and shirt front. It was impossible to stop. It felt like a runny nose on steroids. My eyes burned like fire, and I was grateful I didn't wear contacts because I knew it would feel even worse if I did.

The sergeant in front of me became blurry as tears streaked my face and my eyes itched. I rubbed my eyes, but it only hurt worse. After what seemed like hours, the officer gestured for me to leave. I turned to my right, the way he told me to go, and stumbled towards what I hoped was a door.

My eyes were screaming in pain and I couldn't see anything. I felt light headed and I could feel myself swaying dangerously. My stomach was heavy inside me and I knew I was seconds away from throwing up. This was bad, really bad. I realized that I had heard no stories of a girl not making it through the Gas Room, just resigning after they got out. I knew that something was wrong, it wasn't supposed to be this bad. I was supposed to make it through. I could make it through.

A rectangle of light came into view ahead of me. The door. I put my hands out in front of me, feeling for something to hold on to. The beam of light streaming though the doorway suddenly twisted unnaturally sideways and I became confused. My hip slammed into something hard and I realized it wasn't the door moving, it was me.

I was falling to the ground. I wasn't going to make it. My shoulder slammed into the concrete with such force I screamed. And then my head hit the concrete too and blackness smothered me.

**I told you I was gonna write a cliff hanger! HAHA! I love writing this story...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok guys, I was didn't act like an idiot for once and begged you to review for the past THREE chapters. Yep, THREE! And guess what? No one reviewed... Except for a couple people, THANKS PEOPLE! Oh, what about you huh? Did you review? You didn't! Then that thanks excludes you! :p **

**So since I didn't get a lot of reviews, I am gonna start begging again. Don't you love that? For those people who didn't review, you don't deserve this chapter! But I'm nice, so you should thank me... Maybe in a Review?**

**11Stardust11**

**Fang POV**

I stood outside the exit to the Gas Tank with a bored expression plastered on my face. I tried to channel my thoughts on doing my job of escorting them out, since they can't really see much, and trying not to smell the vomit that a lot of them created the second they stepped out the door. Gross.

But I couldn't help my thoughts from drifting off. I looked to my left, examining just about anything in sight and pretending that I could smell it. If I actually tried to smell it, I would be smelling the brown stuff I was trying _not _to smell. My feet hurt from standing for about an hour and I longed to crouch and take some of my weight off of them. But the closer to the ground I got, the closer that muck came.

But standing here was better than standing around those girls in line. There emotions were so strong they were contagious. I swear, I started getting a little nervous about everything. Maybe I expected something to go wrong, I don't know. I kind of felt sorry for the girls in my group. I knew how it felt, like you couldn't control your body. And frankly, that scared the shit outta me.

Don't think I'm not aware, everyone here alienates of me for being so quiet, and I don't really know the reason why I am. I know it has something to do self control, like I am scared of losing control of myself. I can't remember one true event that caused it, I could have been to young to remember, or maybe it was a whole bunch of small events that created it. I didn't do well with feeling emotions, so I didn't allow myself to feel them.

Call me crazy. My mom did. She got so scared of me being so quiet. I never went out with friends, never really talked to her. All I said was short two-word answers that were just a reply to what she was saying. She tried to talk to me, but I never asked questions about what she was talking about, so it was just a one sided conversation. She thought I was keeping things from her, bad things. So she sent me to a therapist, but I didn't talk to her either. So, the therapist and my mom talked, and came to the conclusion that they were overwhelming me, and I needed a different atmosphere away from them. I suggested the army, I had always wanted to go. And since for the first time in a long time, I had actually presented my own statement, they let me.

A sound exploded in my ears, hurling me out of my memories. I blinked, focusing myself from being off track. For the fraction of a second it took for my ears to figure out what the sound was, the only thought I had was that it was highly familiar. But then I knew what it was, a scream. I sprang from where my feet were planted in seconds and darted into the Gas Tank.

It was like time moved in slow motion, my body moving faster with adrenaline, and my mind was racing, forming ideas and solutions. I saw another figure moving in the green fog, the officer working inside the Gas Tank. I reached the source of the scream, and I realized it was that girl. The one that completed the hurdle. She was was the reason I was respected as a drill sergeant around here.

She was obviously passed out, Her face and shirt were smothered in mucus and tears because of the gas. My stomach lurched. My eyes were already tearing up and I could feel my eyes watering. I had barely been in here for about a minute. It usually took at least a couple before you should start noticing signs of the gas affecting you. Something was wrong.

I hauled the girl out of the Tank pretty much by myself I was moving so fast. The other officer struggled to keep up with me. He felt no signs of the gas, since he has a gas mask on. Worry was written all over his face, the tough sergeant attitude was completely gone. I kept my face blank and calm, but emotions were swirling around in my stomach like crazy. It was very uncomfortable, but I focused on keeping calm.

"Get help," I commanded to the other officer, who nodded and ran for the rest of the officers around the front of the building.

I looked down at the girl in my arms. Her eyes were closed tightly, frozen in a grimace. I moved her over to an untouched part of the grass and laid her down on the ground quickly, as if I was on auto pilot. I found myself pulling a rag out of my pocket and wiping her face off a little so anyone who knew anything medical would be able to identify what was wrong. I occasionally shook her in an attempt to wake her up.

I was wiping the patch of skin just below her nose and above her top lip when her mouth parted slightly. In that moment, emotions were bombarding me, I grit my teeth, refusing to feel them. But one slipped through, a very strong one, care. I cared about her. For those few seconds, everything around us was calm, but everything inside me was exploding. Then, the officers showed up and the silence was shattered, broken into pieces I could never repair.

Everyone from the front of the building came running, including the recruits. The same look of horror crossed each face when they saw her. The lead officer started questioning me almost immediately on what had happened. I explained that I heard her scream and ran in to get her out, and that was all I knew.

Another officer I didn't recognize was looking at me, examining me. I glanced at him, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze when he spoke, "Why are your eyes red?" I looked at him, not knowing how to answer.

The other officers looked at me. One asked, "How long were you in the Tank?"

"Not long. Maybe a minute or two," I answered.

They looked at each other before yelling at the officer that had noticed my red eyes to go check the control room. He ran off. He was thin and pale and had big glasses that spanned across his face. His glasses shook slightly as he ran.

An officer that was crouched down on the other side of the girl looked down at her again. 'We need to get her to the medics."

"I'll go," I said quickly. I wanted to get out of here, the air was suffocating me with emotions. And my insides were churning with them too. I couldn't take it. The officer nodded, standing up and stepping away from the girl. I scooped my arms underneath her and pick her up gently. Her head fell backwards, her chin jutting upward.

The crowd around us split in half, allowing me to step through. I held her body closer to mine as I jogged to the jeep the Sergeants that watched the control room had drove over here. I went to the passenger side and set Max in gently, putting the seat belt around her so she couldn't fall out the open doors. The seat belt jerked and put up resistance to me since it probably had only been used a couple times. I yanked harder and it finally came loose. I clicked in into the buckle and yanked on it again, making it taunt.

I ran around to the driver's side and hopped in. Not bothering with the seat belt. I started the engine and turned around with a wide circle, cutting into the grass. I took off down the road headed back to the camp.

The wind was deafening as I drove down the path. Just what I needed. I glanced down at the speed I was going, eighty. The wind was deafening outside, but my fear for the girl was deafening on the outside. But this was a lot better than the suffocating atmosphere back at the Gas Tank. I whipped into the camp, maneuvering around people who couldn't move out of my way fast enough. I didnt bother to park, pulling up to the front of the building, taking up at least three possible parking spots.

All eyes were on me when I jumped out of the van. When I pulled the girl out, still unconscious, everyone watching gasped in shock. I hated everyone watching, because I preferred to be in the background, not in the spotlight.

A girl ran up, obviously not afraid or shy around officers, and looked over my shoulder at her. "Max..." she gasped.

I looked over at her, realizing the nurses probably needed to know her name. She had light chocolate colored skin and sharp cheekbones. "Is that her name?" I asked.

She hesitated. "Is Max her name?" I asked again, insistent. She nodded. I nodded in return as a thank you before running inside.

The second I stepped inside, the scent of hospital hit me. That nasty smell of antiseptic and rubbing alcohol. I grimaced, I hated hospitals. I couldn't stand being poked and prodded and examined. Several nurses spotted us as we walked in. The took one glance at my situation before rushing forward to help.

"Whats her name?" "How did this happen?" I was bombarded with questions. I explained everything for the second time. While I explained more and more nurses flocked us with different things in each of their hands. When I finished, another group of nurses rushed forward with a stretcher rolling between them. I laid her down on it, as they asked me to.

They started to roll her away down the hall. A nurse came up to me, "Thank you. We can take it from here."

"No," I said immediately. I don't even know why. "I'm her sergeant," I tell her. What am I doing?

"Oh, well then you can come with me if you like. Only her sergeant and higher generals are allowed in," She said. I nodded, following her down the hall towards the girl... Max.

**Now. What did the end of this chapter hint at? Hmm? I would tell you, but you should guess for yourselves and tell me your answers. How about... IN A REVIEW. Seriously, I need some. Im gonna go for... FIFTEEN REVIEWS. Its really not a hard thing to do. Ya know. Just write one. **

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW!**

**11Stardust11**


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